Outdoors
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The contented hum of sunflowers
BY MIKE LUNSFORD One of the best reasons to visit a field of sunflowers is for the way it sounds. The inescapable beauty of such a place attracts gawkers and admirers of all kinds who create a contented hum that can be found nowhere else. We are in the season for sunflowers, which mature for… Continue reading.
The color of spring
Like most country people, we have a spot along our woods that serves us well. It is both a compost heap and leaf pile, a place where we toss rakings and trimmings and lifeless vegetables. It is regularly inspected by possums, birds, and earthworms, where nothing man-made spoils its organic richness. Despite no planning, I… Continue reading.
Our bowl is always full
By Mike Lunsford Many winters ago, I stood in a short line at a local feed store with a bag of sunflower seed over my shoulder and a box of suet cakes tucked under my arm. As I waited for the cashier to ring up a lady in a sweater and stocking cap, I noticed… Continue reading.
Looking for a Winter Wildlife Adventure?
Too often we view the colder months as a time to hunker down and avoid venturing outside. After all, many of our birds have headed south to warmer climates. Our Indiana reptiles and amphibians have retreated below the frost line. Mammals are difficult to observe in the best of times. Just what is there to… Continue reading.
Be a beaver believer
By Jack Spaulding The United States’ national bird is the bald eagle; our national mammal is the American bison. It’s time for us to give the beaver its due and declare the waterway engineer as our official national rodent. Some may disagree, saying we already have the groundhog. Granted, the pasture poodle even has its… Continue reading.
Turkeys aweigh
By Jack Spaulding I once asked an audience what group was responsible for the initial reintroduction of the Eastern Wild Turkey to Indiana. The answers ranged from the “National Wild Turkey Federation” to the “U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service” to the “Audubon Society” and even “The Boy Scouts.” No one came up with the right… Continue reading.
Return of the eagle
By Jack Spaulding Driving along the Big Flatrock River in Rush County, I had the exhilarating experience of seeing a fully mature bald eagle soaring across an open field. No mistaking the huge size, dark body and brilliantly white head of our nation’s emblem. Earlier in the year, I was mesmerized as an eagle perched… Continue reading.
‘Good Ol’ Days’ of Indiana wildlife weren’t so good
By Jack Spaulding For those of us today and for the earliest Hoosier 200 years ago, it’s hard to imagine an Indiana without deer. But the once expansive herds of whitetail deer of Indiana’s earliest pioneer days were killed out by habitat loss and unregulated hunting by the time my grandfather came along. Records show… Continue reading.
Assume all ice is thin ice
By Jack Spaulding Indiana ice fishermen watched the last days of 2021 go by with spring-like temperatures and not a sign of fishable ice. January edged in at first with similar warmth but finally dropped into ice-forming temperatures. Ice fishermen have become impatient waiting for “first ice” and the chance for ice fishing. Day-to-day up… Continue reading.
‘Rocky and his friends’ …
Over the years of writing my column, I have received many letters and emails from readers. On occasion, the correspondences can be a little squirrely; however, one of the latest I received was way squirrely… but in a really neat way. It was an email from husband and wife Randy and Terri Allen of West… Continue reading.
Sustenance afield
BY JACK SPAULDING As long as mankind has hunted, fished and foraged, someone has always brought along something fairly edible to help stave off hunger and starvation. In ancient times, folks went afield with jerky, pemmican and leather bags of parched corn. Sucking on a mouthful of over-cooked, blackened corn has pretty much fallen out… Continue reading.
Turkey Buzzard’s Vicious Cousin
By Jack Spaulding When traveling through Shelby County recently, I came across two large birds dining on roadkill just off of a county road. At first, I thought they were common turkey buzzards. But as I got closer, I realized they weren’t and quickly identified them. They were black and appeared to have less of… Continue reading.